Bill Clerico Visits Sparkseed

            Sparkseed was blessed last week to be visited, via conference call, by Bill Clerico of Wepay.com. Clerico is an ideal entrepreneur and a true role model for Sparkseed’s venture leaders to look to for advice.

            While studying at Boston College, Clerico and Wepay cofounder, Rich Aberman, were active students. Both men were progressive participants in many different campus clubs and organizations. When the clubs needed to raise funds to take group trips, or hold events, Clerico and Aberman were often the ones who collected club member dues. Unfortunately, because they spent far too much time collecting money, and keeping track of it, Aberman and Clerico couldn’t enjoy the activities they fundraised for.

            After trying to raise capital for some post collegiate adventures, and going through great pains to do so, Aberman and Clerico decided that there had to be better, non-conventional ways to manage money. Thus, Wepay.com, an online social money collecting and managing tool, was born.

            During last Thursday’s conference call, Clerico enlightened Sparkseed about his struggles and successes as a social entrepreneur. Intern Daria Reaven feels that she learned a lot from the call about, “the day to day logistical details of a social organization that is constantly trying to keep in mind values and principles of a big picture.” Reaven is also pleased that Clerico was able to accurately and thoughtfully answer audience questions.

            “I thought it was great to have a young entrepreneur talk about his experiences to other young entrepreneurs,” says Sparkseed CEO Mike Del Ponte regarding the conference call. Del Ponte believes that venture leaders learned a lot about product development from Clerico. He believes that the lesson venture leaders should take from call is that, “they shouldn’t spend too much time worrying about making their companies run like a large companies, with HR and accounting and all that. They should not worry about getting their product done perfectly at first.  They should build something, test it out, and then get some feedback on the product.”

            Venture Support Coordinator Samantha Given-Dennis is also pleased with what Clerico shared with Sparkseed’s social innovators. She says of the call, “it was just wonderful to see the venture leaders interact with him, and for them to hear what he had to say.” She adds, “it is very clear that Bill Clerico’s passion is what pushes him to be an entrepreneur, but also care about social impact.”

To learn more about Bill Clerico and Wepay, blog readers are directed to Wepay.com.